OP
OP
dante60093
Guest
Hi dm,Wow! Nice job with putting that much away. I'm suprized no one has mentioned selling the house and using the equity to pay cash for a smaller one. I would think that you could still get a pretty nice place in the Chicago area for 200k.
With what you have saved you could be investing serious time with that young son of yours.
It just show's that lifestyle is a relative thing. For some a double wide on a couple of acres in the country is their dream. For others it would be a nightmare.
To maintain a 800K dollar house and the lifestyle that goes with it is something you will just have to add up and see how much its going to cost to maintain.
Two years ago I moved from an affluent area in St. Louis to a little town about 15 miles away. I got a larger home with a bigger yard. My taxes were much cheaper and the biggest difference was I didn't feel like I had to have the new Mercedes and bigger boat. I sold the Mercedes and got a Jeep because that was the type of cars that were around here. I know your not supposed to try to keep up with the Jones's but you do want to fit in.
My utilities (gas, electricity, water) were $2800 in 2003. Property tax is about $9100, insurance is $900. Average monthly cost: $1067. We love the area - it is the Kenilworth-Winnetka-Glencoe part of the Chicago northshore with one of the best school districts and with maximum real estate value appreciation. The median price here is similar to mine and teardowns on 60X130 lots are being purchased by developers for $600K or more and replaced with new construction.
You mentioned the most important thing to me - spending more time with our second grader. Which is why I am interested in opinions from folks posting in this forum. My idea of RE is: I can afford to give up my job - don't have to leave home for 12 hours anymore. And can be self-employed working out of the house so that I can spend more time with my son.
Two issues though: 1. Haven't homed in on a venture yet (maybe too risk-averse) and 2. Opportunity cost of salary+bonus.
Wonder if you were in a similar situation (probably better) as me and if you had to deal with similar considerations .